16 January 1998. Blessing of Belfry of Birth of God Cathedral from Chisinau

The inauguration and blessing of the Belfry of the Birth of God Cathedral took place in Chisinau on 16 January 1998, with the participation of the leadership of the Metropolitan See of Moldova and high-ranking state officials. This was an emotional event, at which thousands of participants gathered and the completion of the complex, made up of the Cathedral and the Triumph Arch, partially gave the Capital the perfume of a refined architectural and aesthetic concept.

The Cathedral and the Belfry were built up during six years, in 1830-1836. During the Soviet times, the authorities were obviously bothered by the ecclesiastic look of the centre of Chisinau and plotted the disappearance of the Belfry.

On the night of 22 to 23 December 1962, a prolonged roar was heard in this area and in the morning, to the surprise of passers-by, the Belfry disappeared. The directive of the leadership of the communist party of the Soviet Union to fight against the religion and promote the atheistic values was thus being promoted in Chisinau at that time.  

Following the collapse of the USS and the bankruptcy of the communist ideology, the Moldovan governors, at an insistent urge of culture people and media, started the process of reconstruction or better to say, the building from the scratch, of the Belfry. Based on archive documents and photos, a project was compiled and Mircea Snegur’s decree on the object’s reconstruction from 4 September 1996 sped up the things. The latter were carried out in a record time – only 9 months and cost 900,000 dollars. The Belfry is an accurate copy of the original, destroyed by the atheists and has a height of 41 metres.     

In the disorder of architectural styles and invasion of kitch, which affect the city, the area Cathedral-Belfry-Triumph Arch is for Chisinau an island of unitary style, harmony and respect for history.     

Chisinau, 21 January /MOLDPRES/.